


Miraculous Body Swap!

by MerakiMela



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Body Swap, F/M, Magical Shenanigans, magical mishap
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-03-19
Packaged: 2019-11-17 19:31:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18104978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MerakiMela/pseuds/MerakiMela
Summary: Marinette and Adrien have woken up in each others bodies without a clue as to why. Will they manage to solve this without revealing their biggest secrets to each other? I won't give that away, but I will tell you it will all be one big awkward disaster for both of them. At least Plagg is having fun.





	1. I've read enough comic books to see where this is going

The first thing Adrien noticed when he woke up was how alien the cosy feeling that wrapped around him was. The difference in softness between his bed and where ever he just woke up was so dramatic that he felt like it was melting and he was sinking further and further into it. Waking up where one did not fall asleep is jarring, no matter how comfortable it is, so once Adrien realised, his eyes blew wide open. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but a large, cartoonish cat face was not even in his top ten guesses of what he would see. Yelping with surprise, he only found more things to be startled by. Why was his voice so high pitched? Adrien lifted a hand to his throat and gave it a tentative stroke, wondering what would have changed his voice if he didn’t have a sore throat. After he got over the confusing sensation of how rough his hands felt on his skin, it took him way too long to realise why his throat felt so weird; there was no Adam’s apple.

_Have I been turned into a girl?_

Curious to get an answer, Adrien pulled the blankets away from his body and looked down. With a still surprisingly feminine gasp, he saw that what he was thinking was correct. It didn’t answer why he wasn’t in his bedroom, though. Had an akuma turned him into a girl and kidnapped him? It sounded absurd but honestly, it wasn’t the weirdest thing he had seen, so he wasn’t going to dismiss the possibility. Staring at his new form, he realised that these pyjamas were familiar. His memory flashes back to the time he was escaping fans and his bodyguard with a certain school friend.

“Marinette?” He asked to what he assumed was an empty room. The chime-like voice he heard speak confirmed his suspicions. He wasn’t just turned into a girl, he had become a very specific one; Marinette. Judging by how he was alone in her room, he figured it was probably some sort of body switch situation, if comic books were a good source of information for real life scenarios. What perplexed him more than anything else was why Marinette? With a mental shrug, he guessed he’d find out eventually. Even though he didn’t need more proof that he had woken up in Marinette’s body, he sat up and looked around the room. The walls were still covered with pictures of him, but now they were joined by photos of all their friends, and other models wearing what he assumed were inspiring looks. It seemed like what the cameras had shown when Jagged visited was her just beginning to decorate and hadn’t finished putting up the rest of the photos yet. He felt his stomach drop with what felt like disappointment, which was confusing. Why would he be disappointed he wasn’t the only one she had photos of? Adrien shook his newly claimed head dismissively, dark hair swishing back and forth across his line of vision.

_I must just be hungry. It is breakfast time after all._

Adrien climbed down from Marinette’s bed and headed for the trapdoor leading to the rest of her house, before stopping in his tracks. He should get out of these pyjamas and into day clothes before entering the rest of the house. It would be improper to meet with her parents in sleepwear. If he did that at home Nathalie would berate him if he came to breakfast anything less than freshly showered and completely dressed. A sudden thought made him flinch.

_Should I shower?_

As soon as he thought it, he shut it down. Under _no_ circumstances could he shower while in Marinette’s body. The very idea of looking at her body without her knowledge or permission made his skin crawl…or rather, her skin crawl. Now he was more awake, the magnitude of the situation became far clearer and he became increasingly more uncomfortable. What put him in Marinette’s body? Was this the work of an akuma? Or was there something wrong with the magic of his Miraculous? Was Plagg alone with an empty shell back in his room or was somebody else living in his body? Marinette seemed like the most likely option, but what if it wasn’t just a two-way swap? Adrien imagined Marinette waking up in Chloé’s body, Chloé waking up in his father’s body, and his father waking up in his body. He shuddered at the image, deciding that was the worst case scenario, besides Hawkmoth waking up in his body. Would Plagg know it wasn’t him and hide? Or would he accidentally give everything away and Adrien would lose him? Needing to know who was in his body, he found Marinette’s phone and dialled his own number. Frustratingly enough, the phone went to voicemail and he hung up before he could leave an awkward message. If his phone hadn’t been switched back from mute and was in his bag already, whoever was in his body wouldn’t notice any incoming calls.

_I’ll just have to talk to them in person…if they show up to school, that is._

With a sigh, he opened her closet and began looking for something to change into. While grabbing a pair of capri pants, he accidentally knocked over a handbag, causing a bottle of deodorant to roll out. If he wasn’t going to shower, he might as well try to cover it up as much as possible so Marinette doesn’t get reprimanded for it. After an adventure in learning how hard it is to put on clothes, including a bra, without looking, he was finally ready to head downstairs for breakfast. On his way out, he remembered to grab her school bag and purse, glad to see that she seemed to pack everything she needed for today the night before. He did not want to sort through her chaos to find whatever text book he’d need for class. Reaching for the door leading into the bakery, Adrien braced himself for interacting with Marinette’s parents. He had thought about being honest with them, but decided against letting anyone know who he really was. If anyone knew, and it _was_ Miraculous related, he could accidentally out himself as a holder. If he just minimised the conversation, surely they couldn’t be suspicious. Finally, he pushed open the door and entered. The first thing he noticed was Marinette’s mother looking as her with a surprised expression.

“Marinette! You’re ready so early!” She chirped cheerfully. This got the attention of Marinette’s father, who turned and gave a hearty chuckle.

“Marinette on time? If I didn’t know any better I’d say our daughter has been replaced!”

_Oh no._

“Replaced? Nooooo…I am definitely the daughter – I mean, I’m Marinette! I just woke up before my alarm and didn’t go back to sleep.” That sentence could _not_ have gotten away from him more, but at least he got somewhere in the end. Even so, there was no way it didn’t set off a red flag. Marinette’s parents both burst into laughter.

“Silly sweetie. It seems that while you may be physically up, your brain might still be in bed.” Marinette’s mother teased, before turning back to her work. Marinette’s father stepped toward him and scooped him up in a surprisingly gentle bear hug.

“Make sure to have a big breakfast so your brain can wake up before class, my little pod-person. Can’t take over the world if we’re sleepy, can we?” He suggested with a joking tone as he put him down. Adrien nodded and smiled, more out of relief than of acknowledgement, before sweeping a selection of baked goods into a paper bag and taking off out the front door. Once around the corner, Adrien dramatically sighed and slid down the wall he was leaning on until he sat on the ground. Marinette’s parents might have a high threshold for weird things they accept to come out of their daughters mouth, but not everyone at school will be so accepting, so he really needs to get his act together if he doesn’t want anyone to realise he isn’t Marinette. He really wasn’t ready to face Alya; that girl can sniff out suspicious activity a mile away and he’d have to sit next to her all day. After shovelling the pastries down, he felt surprisingly better. Being hungry must have been stressing him out. Now he’d eaten he could probably nap right there on the street. A buzzing from Marinette’s purse startled him out of his daze. He pulled out Marinette’s phone to see the screen lit up with an alarm titled “GET UP NOW OR BE LATE FOR SCHOOL!” Adrien found himself chuckling at it as he turned it off. It seemed like Marinette really had to fight herself to get herself up on time. His laughter died down when he realised the implication; if he didn’t leave now he would be late for school.

_How long was I sitting here eating?_

Without needing more prompting, Adrien took off in a full sprint towards the school.


	2. When I dreamed of waking up in Adrien's bed, this wasn't what I was thinking of

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry Marinette, you'll have time to panic later

The first thing Marinette noticed when she woke up was how exposed she felt. Without opening her eyes, she reached around the bed, only to become annoyed when she couldn’t find any of her extra blankets and comforters. The second thing she noticed was a hand gently shaking her shoulder with impatient urgency.

“Adrien, if you don’t get up now I’ll assume you’re sick and not up to attending school today.” A stern female voice warned. The name that was spoken brought Marinette to full alert. Concerned that Adrien was in her room with no warning, Marinette sat upright with lightning speed mumbling incoherently as her eyes darted back and forth. She recognised the room she was in as Adrien’s from the couple of times she had been there as Ladybug, but it seemed that Adrien himself wasn’t there as far as she could see. The sound of the briefest, most professional chuckle pulled her attention back to the side of the bed to see Nathalie smirking down at her.

“That’s what I thought. Shower quickly; your father won’t stay very long for breakfast, so you won’t want to lose time.” Nathalie advised, before turning swiftly and exiting the room. As soon as she was alone, Marinette released a heavy sigh. It really surprised her that Nathalie hadn’t reprimanded her for managing to sleepwalk into Adrien’s bed, or however she had managed to get in there. She didn’t think she’d survive if Adrien was in the bed with her. Marinette decided not to push her luck any further and decided now would be a good time to sneak away.

“Tikki! Are you he – ” She started to call out softly, before the weirdness of her voice dawned on her. Marinette made a few experimental noises while reaching for her throat to see if there was anything physically wrong with it. She startled herself when she found a weird bump on the front of her throat. For a few moments Marinette thought that perhaps she had broken a part of her throat and now her voice was damaged, before realising that didn’t make any sense. The movement of dropping her hands into her lap caused her to look at them, and she discovered more confusing information. The hands she had control over were a lot larger than usual. After touching them to each other, she realised they were also a lot less calloused too.

_Okay, time to take stock of everything. I’m in Adrien’s room without Adrien, but I heard Nathalie talk to him. My voice has changed dramatically and I have a weird bump on my throat now. My hands are suddenly big and soft…oh no._

Marinette threw back the covers and looked down at her body, which she noted was now in the form of a very familiar lean, well-toned male body.

“Oh no.” She whispered to herself. Throwing herself out of bed, she bolted for Adrien’s en suite bathroom. Skidding to a halt in front of the mirror, the extremely animated expression of shock over Adrien’s face that looked back at her confirmed her fears.

“Ohhh noooooo…” She moaned loudly, panic setting in. How had this happened? Was it an akuma that switched people’s bodies? How was she meant to be Ladybug in Adrien’s body? Who was in her body? It had to be Adrien. Would Tikki be able to tell it wasn’t her and be able to hide herself in time? Or would she accidentally give away their biggest secret to Adrien of all people?! Marinette shook her head and slapped her cheeks, ignoring the mirror telling her that it was not her head and not her cheeks. If she was going to get through this without her secret getting out, or embarrassing Adrien, she had to pull herself together. At least until she could get to school and talk to Adrien in her body. She took herself through a mental checklist of what she had to do before she could go to school. Nathalie had mentioned showering before having breakfast with Adrien’s father, but she couldn’t shower right now. That would mean seeing Adrien’s…

_Ah! Can’t think of that! Move on!_

In an attempt to think about anything else, it occurred to her that maybe Nathalie or Gabriel would be able to tell she hadn’t showered and she might get Adrien in trouble. They seemed like those kinds of people who would reprimand him for not maintaining a pristine image. Marinette eyed the giant shower to her right. If she was serious about not causing any problems for Adrien, she had to do this. Surely if she just does everything as quickly as she can it will be less awkward.

The shower was more awkward than she could have imagined, but at least it was over quickly. After a surprisingly successful attempt at styling Adrien’s hair, Marinette swiftly got dressed into the clothes that had been laid out, giving up on not looking at his body after the disaster that was showering. She figured if she did this without looking, she might trip and smash his beautiful face in, which she’ll avoid at all costs. She grabbed his messenger bag as she made to leave the enormous bedroom, glad that it seemed that Adrien liked to pack his school bag the night before too. Having no purse only reminded her that she didn’t have Tikki, and suddenly her stomach dropped with a painful loneliness. Marinette breathed deeply, focusing on how soon enough she’ll see Tikki again at school, as she’d probably tag along with Adrien without him noticing, hopefully. She passed the bed and noticed Adrien’s phone sitting next to the pillows. Grabbing it without stopping her journey to the door, she opened it with Adrien’s thumbprint to see she had a missed call from an unknown number. Hoping it  wasn’t important, she dropped it into his bag and promptly exited the room.

Before she could freak out that she couldn’t remember where the dining room was from the time she was there for Christmas, she saw Nathalie on standby at the base of the stairwell. Upon noticing her as she made her way down, Nathalie offered an approving nod after a quick glance at her watch. It appeared that her meltdown and recovery happened a lot faster than Marinette had thought and that she had made good time. As the two of them made their way to the dining room, Nathalie went through Adrien’s schedule for the day. He had a lunchtime shoot on today that would take up the second half of the school day, then he had piano practise and Mandarin homework. Throughout the entire speech, Marinette was frantically trying to come up with ways she could fake each activity. Adrien could explain what to do at the shoot, and as long as nobody was in the room while she did the other stuff, she could probably play a recording and read off a script, and anyone listening in would be none the wiser. Just as Marinette felt her confidence rising, she entered the dining room to see Gabriel Agreste.

“Adrien.” He greeted blankly, not looking up from his documents. Marinette screamed at herself mentally to respond before it was too late.

“Good morning, father.” She managed to get out, hating how nervous she was making Adrien’s voice sound. Gabriel apparently didn’t notice, as he just nodded and continued to read. Marinette glanced back at Nathalie, who gave her a surprisingly sympathetic smile before swiftly exiting the room. Marinette sat in front of where a plate of nutritionally balanced breakfast foods had been placed and began eating as politely as she could muster. The silence in the room was growing more and more unbearable, and the temptation to make some sort of noise to get any sort of reaction grew too. Realising she had run out of food, and thus reasons to not be talking, she put down her fork.

“Working on any new designs?” She asked, trying to bait a conversation.

“No, what I’m working on is purely business. A lot of partnership contracts need to be renewed and I have to check everything carefully before signing anything.” Gabriel explained, not looking away from the current document in his hands. Marinette sagged back in her chair.

“Oh.” Marinette didn’t mean to sound so disappointed as the noise left her mouth, so when Gabriel suddenly looked up at her when it happened she was suddenly filled with regret. The look in Gabriel’s eye was at first confusion, but seemed to melt into curiosity.

“Were you interested in looking at any new designs?” The stoic man asked with a tone that screamed that he wasn’t sure how to hold a casual conversation. Marinette couldn’t help but smile at the offer. Of course she’d want to see new designs from Gabriel Agreste! But what would Adrien say?

“Only if it’s not any trouble, father. I wouldn’t want to disturb your work.” She responded meekly. Gabriel seemed to contemplate for a moment before snapping his eyes back to her.

“I suppose I can take a break for a minute and show you the jacket I’ve been working on.” Gabriel suggested, not breaking his professional expression and tone of voice. Marinette bounced out of her chair and whipped around to Gabriel’s side of the table as the man put down the current document and picked up his tablet. With a few taps, he opened a design app that was displaying a work in progress for a dinner jacket. It was a creamy white with sherbet pastel stripes in pink, yellow, green, and blue.

“Ooh! This is great! So perfect for Spring and Summer! Is this because that critic said you always do Autumn and Winter looks?” She asked, forgetting to be scared in her excitement. Gabriel gave her a grumpy look before clearing his throat.

“I am not doing it because some no name critic told me to. I am merely…showing that I am not limited.” Gabriel answered defensively.

“Well, if you release this you’re definitely going to prove them wrong. This will probably go global.” Marinette praised encouragingly. Gabriel shrugged dismissively.

“To release it I’d have to complete the outfit. But, every time I try it doesn’t work. It’s a lot harder to work with pastels than bolds.”

“Yeah, with bolds you can colour block, use complimentary colours, or pair with black and know it'll look good. You can’t match pastels to black though. The jacket doesn’t have any pale lavender, which is a classic pastel, so I’d match the jacket with lavender trousers. A cream white dress shirt under the jacket would be fine because the rest of the look stands out on its own. Oh! But if you really wanted to add a pop of something unexpected, you could add a holographic fabric bowtie and matching shoes!” Marinette ranted excitedly, completely losing herself in the moment. Glancing back to gauge his reaction, she suddenly remembered who she was talking to and all her fear came back at once.

“Sorry! I shouldn’t have – I just got excited, I didn’t mean to – ” She scrambled to apologise before Gabriel hushed her.

“It’s quite alright, Adrien. What you’ve said will be useful to think about. I…never realised you were interested in design.”

_Oh no._

Marinette had the feeling that getting Gabriel excited about Adrien’s potential as a designer could blow up in her face later, considering she had no idea if he had any potential or even a desire to be a designer.

“I don’t know about that, father. I’ve been talking to my friend Marinette a lot about it recently, so I’m just thinking about it more these days.” She tried to deflect as casually as possible. Gabriel’s eyes narrowed in thought.

“Your… _friend_ Marinette?” He asked with a suspicious tone. Marinette couldn’t help the facial twitch at the word friend and hoped he didn’t catch it. Right as Gabriel opened his mouth to say more, a cough from the door interrupted. Marinette turned to see Nathalie standing at the door with a suspiciously blank expression.

“Adrien it is time to leave for school. The car is waiting.” She informed. Grateful for an excuse to escape, Marinette surged back to where she had left Adrien’s messenger bag and grabbed it before bolting to the door.

“Bye, father! Don’t want to be rude and make anyone wait for me!” She farewelled as she passed through the threshold. Either she was having an auditory hallucination, or she heard Gabriel _chuckling_. She didn’t like it.


	3. You can look pretty crazy when you talk to yourself

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette and Adrien's plan to talk to each other about their situation grinds to an awkward halt due to their own silliness.

As Adrien closed in on the school entrance, his mind whirred through the various possible options that he could be dealing with. The simplest option was a one-to-one body swap and Marinette was inhabiting his body. There was also the chance of multiple swaps having taken place and anyone could be in his body right now. It also meant Marinette could be anywhere and possibly scared, so this was his least favourite option. If Marinette was in his body at least she’d be safe. The weirdest, yet still plausible option he could think of was that a copy of his mind was sent into Marinette’s body and a version of himself was still controlling his body, completely unaware that there was another him running around. It sounded insane, but it happened in an issue of Majestia, so he wasn’t going to dismiss the possibility without proof. If he could just get to class before the bell, he’d get a chance to talk to whoever was in his body and come up with some sort of plan. Passing through the doorway, he turned sharply around the corner only to slam headfirst into something. Recoiling, Adrien stumbled and began tilting back before suddenly being caught by a pair of hands. Looking at the chest that such hands connected to, he realised that he had run straight into somebody.

“Sorry!” He squeaked out, before lifting his line of sight to make eye contact with his victim. To say it was jarring to look up at his own face from below would be an understatement. To say he didn’t yelp in shock would be a lie. His own face shifted from a startled expression to a concerned one.

“Are you okay?” Whoever it was asked, shifting their grip on Marinette’s biceps as if worried that a fall was imminent. The question didn’t give much away for who it was. Whoever it was had good enough reflexes to catch him as fast as he would normally catch Marinette when she’d trip near him.

_I should talk to them and subtly try to find out who they are._

“Marinette?” He questioned in an awkwardly loud voice. So much for subtle. In his peripheral vision, he saw several heads turn sharply at the sound of Marinette basically shouting her own name.

“I mean – Adrien? I’m Marinette. Definitely not…someone else.”

_Smooth recovery. I’m sure nobody is suspicious now._

Surprisingly enough, whoever was in his body gave a warm chuckle accompanied with a fond smile.

“I’d be worried if you hit your head so hard you forgot who you were.” They joked lightly, finally trusting him not to fall over enough to let go of his arms. Adrien really needed to get this over with; it was already far too embarrassing for him to deal with.

“A-Adrien? Can I ask you something?” He asked, stuttering as he felt weird addressing himself.

/////

So far, Marinette had managed to survive breakfast with Gabriel Agreste and the car ride with Adrien’s intimidating bodyguard by the skin of her teeth. She was honestly terrified that something would happen that would require her to say the gorilla-like man’s name, and she had no idea what it was, so when the car pulled over, Marinette happily burst out the door as quickly as she could. She knew there’d be no drama with Nino, so when he greeted her there was no need to fake a smile or confidence. She’d even managed to not look suspicious in front of her best friend Alya and avoid Chloé so far. All that was left was to talk to Adrien. Not wanting to take any chances with missing him, Marinette waited by the front entrance to catch him on his way in. She didn’t realise that it would be so literal until she saw herself barrelling at her and slamming head-first into what was technically Adrien’s chest and nearly falling backwards. Knowing that people would be watching, she made an effort to keep up the appearance of being Adrien, saving the big talk with the real Adrien for somewhere more private. When she saw her own expression twisting into various expressions of panic, which was followed by rambling, she deduced that Adrien had decided to do the same and act as much like Marinette as possible. Unfortunately, she was a hot mess whenever she talked to him, so of course that’s how he’d play her. She had to admit he was doing a really convincing job, though. If she didn’t know any better, she’d think that it was really Marinette freaking out as she tried to talk to Adrien.

_Was Adrien always this good at acting?_

“A-Adrien? Can I ask you something?”

The stutter and the nervous tone were almost too accurate to be acting, at least from Adrien.

_Why in the world would Adrien be nervous talking to me? He’s never done it before, so why start now?_

Hoping that he wanted to quietly ask about the whole body switch situation, she leaned in close, angling an ear towards her own mouth, ignoring how weird it felt to lean so close to herself like that.

“D-did you shower this morning?”

_Okay, was not expecting him to ask that._

Marinette stepped back in confusion to see a mortified expression washing over her face. This was all too genuine to be acting. Was it possible that it wasn’t Adrien and was really still her? Marinette could vaguely remember Alya trying to explain an extremely convoluted plot line from a Majestia issue where a copy of her mind was sent to another body, but the original had no idea about it. At the time Marinette found it ridiculous, but seeing the evidence for it in front of her told her to revaluate her judgement.

“Not that I was smelling you! I mean, I obviously smelled you if I noticed the scent of your shampoo, but I didn’t do it on purpose!” As the rambling continued, it grew awkwardly in volume.

_Am I always this awkward and painful to watch?_

\\\\\\\\\

Adrien groaned in frustration. Marinette may fumble her words cutely most of the time, but she was never this bad. He was definitely humiliating her in front of everyone who had begun watching for some reason. Braving eye contact again, he looked back up at the other him to see him attempting to come up with something to do or say to salvage the conversation. Before he could, Adrien felt himself being dragged away by a small pair of hands. He turned his head to see that it was Alya, which didn’t surprise him. Often in the past when Marinette’s glitching had gotten particularly bad, Alya would swoop in and either speak for her or just drag her away like just now. He glanced around to gauge how the observers had reacted to his disastrous episode and was surprised and relieved to see that most were offering sympathetic or encouraging smiles.

“Girl, what am I going to do with you?” Alya asked with a slight laugh as she released his arm once they had gained enough distance.

“Ugh! It was terrible! It’s like I’m trying to start a rumour that “Marinette likes to sniff people”! Why is this so hard?” Adrien vented, trying to be vague enough to not give anything away. Alya put a supportive arm around him and gave a gentle squeeze as the entered the classroom.

“Try not to worry about it. People probably won’t cling on to what you said and we’ll all forget about it.” Alya reassured, letting go so they could both sit down.

“Hey, Marinette! If you’re going to start smelling people to make sure they showered, you should start with Kim! The day hasn’t even begun and he’s already nasty.” Alix called out jokingly, resulting in giggling rippling through the room. Giving up, Adrien face planted into the desk in shame.

/////

Marinette felt truly awful for the other her. If only she knew that it wasn’t really Adrien that she had said that stuff to, then she wouldn’t feel so embarrassed.

_Wait, why can’t I just go and tell her that?_

Marinette finally regained control of her new legs and paced over to the classroom. As she entered, she heard a few people giggling as Kim growled at Alix. It didn’t take long for her to notice the other her lying face down in the desk, something she was far too familiar with whenever she became too embarrassed to handle. Figuring the sooner she told her who she really was, the sooner she could recover, Marinette started her way up to her usual seat so she could crouch next to herself and fill her in. She was abruptly stopped, however, by a large hand on the chest. Marinette glance over to see that the hand belonged to Nino.

“Come on, dude. You know the drill. Let her cool down, then talk to her and let her know it’s all cool.” Nino advised with a tone of caution. Marinette fought back a groan. How long had Adrien and Nino had a drill for dealing with her meltdowns? But then again, the idea that Adrien had frequently enough expressed a desire to help her feel better that Nino had assumed it would happen again now left her with a warm feeling inside.

“Adrikins!”

_Good feeling’s gone._

\\\\\\\\\

“Adrikins!”

Adrien naturally flinched at the familiar shrill sound and glanced up to prepare himself for the attack. When he immediately caught sight of himself standing at the front of the room, he remembered that he was not himself right now and was temporarily free from unwanted touches from certain girls. The expression on his other self’s face was pretty standard for him; politely bracing for impact. If nothing else did, that alone confirmed that it was really him in the other body. Who else in Paris was used to too much affection from Chloé? He still needed to talk to the other him about what had happened, but with Chloé trapping him in a conversation, he’d have to wait until lunch.

*****

When Tikki woke up, she could sense something wrong with the energy coming out of Marinette’s body. As Tikki’s holder, Marinette usually had an energy that was quite similar to her own. The energy radiating from the girl now was distinctly different to Marinette’s, completely opposite, she’d go as far to say. Familiar enough with how different her own energy was to Plagg’s, her own cosmic balance, she quickly realised that Marinette must have swapped bodies with Adrien somehow. Which was why Tikki had decided to carefully hide herself until the opportune moment to try to talk to Marinette. Feeling the purse get put on the floor, Tikki took this as her moment to subtly go underneath the desk Marinette would be sitting at. Waiting in the bag was Plagg, which she was expecting. The expression and gesturing of “no” “stop” that he greeted her with were only half a surprise.

“Come on, Plagg. We need to tell them what’s happening!” Tikki implored.

“Why? It will be so funny watching them try to figure it out. Besides, won’t they jut get suspicious that we immediately knew where to find them?” Plagg argued with a mischievous grin. Tikki sighed. His motivation was off, but he did have a good point.

“Fine, we’ll let them figure it out themselves. But! We are stepping in if there is an akuma attack.” She insisted with as much authority she could pour into her words. Plagg chuckled darkly.

“This is going to be brilliant!”


	4. Business As Usual

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will Adrien and Marinette make it through class unscathed?

Marinette held a forced smile as Chloe continued to ramble on about how some tutorial she found showed her how to add more volume to her ponytail and now it looks so much more fabulous, refraining from commenting that it looks exactly the same as always. She managed to not flinch when Chloe suddenly latched onto her arm and started bouncing with excitement over Gucci announcing a Queen Bee themed line of purses. It helped that she was kind of used to this from being Ladybug, but it was so weird getting this kind of treatment from her out of costume.

_Well, I am kind of in a costume…if you count Adrien’s body as one._

In any case, Marinette knew she could handle Chloe without making Adrien look suspicious. She was just grateful that Lila was home “sick” today. Marinette didn’t know if she could deal with Lila being all over her too.

“Adrikins, you simply must join me for lunch today. The new passionfruit tartlets at the hotel are to die for.” Chloe cooed, still clinging to her arm, Luckily, Marinette had an excuse to get out of this one.

“That sounds great, Chlo. Unfortunately I have a lunchtime shoot today. Maybe another time?” Marinette informed, putting as much Adrien-style sincerity into the tone of her voice and her facial expression. Chloe moved to respond, probably to suggest hanging out after the shoot, but was cut off by Mme Bustier ushering everyone to their seats so the lesson could begin. With a sigh, Marinette dropped into Adrien’s seat and began unpacking what she’ll need for class.

“Oh man, those tartlets sound good. Ya think Chloe will be in a good enough mood to let me tag along?” Nino asked with a hungry expression. Marinette chuckled at his optimism.

“Doubt it. Why would you need to tag long with us anyway? Alya’s mother works there; you could probably just go with Alya and get a family discount whenever you want.” She commented. Nino laughed in his usual relaxed way.

“You got me there, dude. I should have realised I could do that, especially after getting cheaper zoo tickets through her dad.” Nino replied with increasing enthusiasm. Marinette couldn’t help but chuckle.

“What else are relationships for if you can’t exploit deals out of them?” She joked, making Nino laugh a little too loud, as Mme Bustier shushed them both. Marinette was about to knuckle down and pay attention when Nino leaned in.

“If that’s the case, then you’ve obviously gotta start dating Marinette, dude. Free pastries for life!” Nino whispered, playfully elbowing her in the side. Marinette felt heat building in her cheeks. Did Nino just casually suggest to Adrien that he should date her? Was he interested in her and Adrien being a couple or was he just doing it to please Alya? Either way, she found it sweet that he was trying to help.

“Pfft, like we don’t get enough from her parents as just her friends?” She whispered back, trying to keep it cool. If she acted to interested it would probably be suspicious as Adrien was only interested in being friends. With a shrug, Nino turned back to his work and Marinette did the same. Having watched Adrien basically every day, she was pretty familiar with how he liked to set up his school stuff and how he liked to take notes. She doubted anybody besides herself would notice the amount of detail she was putting in, but it was admittedly fun trying to be as accurate as possible, almost like she was trying to trick the other Marinette into thinking she was really Adrien. It would make it easier to get the other her to follow her into a supply closet if she thought it was really Adrien and wasn’t suspicious of an imposter. Knowing herself she’d never guess it was another version of her mind and would assume it was a malicious akuma and would want to fight. Yes, it was better if she just completely tricked the other her until she could explain everything.

\\\\\\\\\

Adrien watched himself talk, or rather listen, to Chloe with a patience that can only be built up from exposure. It had to be himself, right? Or was it foolish to make that assumption so quickly? Soon enough the other Adrien, or whoever it was, was saved by Mme Bustier asking for everyone to go to their seats. Once seated, the other him started talking to Nino and the pair seemed to be joking with each other in their usual friendly way. From what he could gather, it was about getting discounts from Alya’s parents at their jobs.

“Boys.” Adrien turned to see that Alya was also listening in, but was smiling fondly as she rolled her eyes. The other him made some sort of sarcastic remark about exploitation and Nino burst into laughter, causing Mme Bustier to ask them to be quiet. The other Adrien straightened up and looked like he was ready to pay attention, but Nino turned around and made eye contact with Alya, who gave a quick nod. Nino then leaned in towards his desk buddy and whispered something too quietly for Adrien to pick up on. Whatever it was made the other him blush and whisper something back.

_What on earth could that have been about?_

Adrien tried his best to pay attention and take notes, but he couldn’t help looking down at the person in front of him. They had arranged his stationary exactly the way he would have, they sat in the same alert and correct posture that he had been instructed to sit in, and even seemed to be formatting his notes the same as he normally does from what he could make out from this distance. Surely he didn’t need any more evidence than this, right? Adrien stared at the back of his own head, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. It was so mesmerizingly weird seeing himself from this angle, as most photos of him were of his front or side profile. While staring, he tried to think of what to say at lunch time to the other him. Would he believe it or would he assume Marinette was just mixing up her words more than usual? He’d have to mention Plagg in order for the other him to believe he was telling the truth, which meant getting him completely alone. With Chloe around to run interference, he’d have to get to him as soon as the bell rings and just drag him into a supply closet or something. A minute of confusion should be worth a chance to explain what has happened. He also needed to come up with something to say in case this person was somehow not him and he was completely wrong with his assessment.

“You’re going to burn a hole in his head if you keep staring like that.” Alya whispered, suddenly right next to his ear. Adrien flinched in shock and turned to her with wide eyes.

“I-I wasn’t…ugh!” Adrien grunted softly. He didn’t even think about how this would look to anyone watching. It was probably so suspicious to everyone who could see. Alya gave a comforting smile and placed her hand on his forearm.

“Chill, girl. You know I’m not judging. What’s on your mind? Still worrying about earlier?” Alya asked gently. Adrien wasn’t about to walk away from an excellent excuse for his behaviour, especially considering he was kind of still thinking about it.

“Yeah. What am I meant to say after acting like that?” Adrien whined, trying to avoid how cute Marinette’s voice was when she complained.

“Relax, Marinette. You know how kind he is, so you know exactly how the conversation will go. You’ll apologise, and Monsieur Sunshine will brush it off and tell you not to worry as per usual. He hasn’t let your word vomit freak him out yet and I doubt he’ll start now. I promise it’s not as bad as you think.” Alya reassured, rubbing gentle circles into the arm her hand was draped on.

_Monsieur Sunshine? Is that what she calls me when I’m not around?_

There could be worse nicknames, and this one seemed fitting. He did have blonde hair and always tried to have a cheerful disposition. He also found it really sweet that she had such a kind opinion of him that she was so confident that he wouldn’t have a harsh reaction to Marinette embarrassing herself. Was Marinette often worried that she’s gone too far with her awkwardness? Is this why nobody seemed to be suspicious of his meltdown? Why in the world would Marinette be so worried about him?

“But one day he's going to turn around and catch you staring so you better start brainstorming excuses. God forbid you try to improvise.” Alya teased with a playful tone.

_Wait, what?_

That seriously sounded like Alya was saying that staring at the back of his head was something that Marinette did frequently. Surely she wouldn’t do anything like that unless…she had feelings for him? Before he could unpack that, he took note of something else she said.

“Why can't I improvise?”

“Hey there hotstuff! Let's go ride some cous-cous into the sunse-” Alya jokes a little too loud, so Adrien began shushing her. The other him had heard at least some of it and had turned around to see what was happening. If it was just him, there was no problem. But, if it was some unknown person he didn't want to expose Marinette's potential crush to a stranger who might use it against her. Or worse, if it was Marinette in there somehow not freaking out over being in his body, he didn't want her to be mortified by him finding out before she was ready to tell him.

“We're not talking about you!” He blurted out. Somehow, thinking about Marinette today was making him panic. He watched his face warp into startled confusion as the room rippled with giggling at his outburst.

“Alya, Marinette – please stop talking and disrupting the class. Everyone else, let’s refocus.” Mme Bustier reprimanded. Adrien squeaked out an apology, feeling embarrassed and guilty for getting Marinette in trouble. He cautiously glanced back at his other self to see that his expression had shifted to one of amused fondness, before turning back around.

/////

Marinette held back a chuckle as she turned back to face the front. Unluckily for the other her, she had heard everything Alya had said. Luckily, the real Adrien hadn’t heard it, but it’s not like the other her knew that. Being able to see how much of a disaster she was from an outside perspective was certainly interesting. It really made her wonder how much Adrien noticed and politely pretended not to. As the room finally became quiet again, Marinette was startled by what sounded like snickering from beneath Adrien’s desk. Curious, she glanced back and forth to see if anyone was watching, before ducking under to see if it was Adrien’s phone that made the noise. Seeing no notifications, she figured she heard someone downstairs or she was imagining it, so sat back up, ready for the rest of the lesson.

\\\\\\\\\

Adrien blanched at the distinct sound of Plagg laughing from below. The other him seemed to look around cautiously before ducking under the table and looking into the bag, probably to give the kwami a warning glare. Plagg was going to give him a heart attack one day with how many close calls he caused by being careless. Luckily, nothing else seemed to go wrong for the rest of the lesson, and Adrien found himself able to concentrate for long enough to get some semblance of note-taking. When the bell for lunch finally went off he felt like he could explode out of his seat, and it took all his self-control to not do so. Marinette’s tiny hands blurred as he quickly packed away all her items into her bag.

“Adrien? Can I talk to you?” He asked as he rose to his feet and stepped out from the desk, swinging the bag onto his back and slinging Marinette’s purse over the shoulder. As he moved to step from the first step to the floor, he felt something hook around his ankles and a hand harshly shove into his back, causing him to crash to the ground with a thud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's really looking like Adrien will never catch a break, hey?
> 
> I'm posting this without going over it too carefully, so I might end up fixing it after it's already posted. In the event that that happens I am sorry to everyone who might see this at the top of their feed and think it was chapter 5 being posted


	5. Revealing Behaviour

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who is going to figure out what is going on first?

_Ugh…what just happened?_

Adrien rolled over and looked up to see Chloé looking down at him with a smug expression that quickly shifted to one of feigned shock.

“Marinette tripping over the stairs? What a surprise.” Chloé stated sarcastically, before turning away from him and leaning into the other him.

“Now Adrikins, you never finished telling me wh – ”

 “Chloé, did you just shove me?” Adrien asked, voice riddled with betrayal. He knew he didn’t just trip, he felt someone trip him and push him. He didn’t want to believe Chloé would do that, at least not these days. She was meant to be trying to be a better person. But, that look she gave him told him another story. Chloé gasped and raised her hand to her chest as if she had been offended.

“No, of course not! Don’t blame me for being a klutz.” She whined defensively. Adrien opened his mouth to make a retort when he was quickly hit by a wave of pain in his head, causing him to wince and hold a hand to the side of his temple.

“Oh my god! Marinette, are you okay?” Adrien looked up to see his other self looking at him with immense concern, before doing a tuck jump over the desk and kneeling next to him. Hands flew over his body, gently bending and rotating his arms to check for sprains. The hands raised to his face and cupped along the jawline, fingers reaching along the cheeks and neck. He watched his own eyes survey him for damage, before they locked into eye contact with him.

_This feels so damn weird._

It was incredibly uncomfortable being locked in eye contact with himself, especially with such an intense expression. The other him seemed to relax once he analysed that there wasn’t any serious damage, but his expression stayed fiercely determined.

“Chloé, you can’t treat people like that; it’s awful! She could have gotten a concussion.” The other Adrien berated with a commanding tone he didn’t know he could muster. It really reminded him of his Lady, or when Marinette took charge.

“Puh-lease, Adrikins. She’s obviously putting it on to get attention.” Chloé responded dismissively with a hand-wave. Adrien felt his stomach drop with disappointment. What happened to the girl who wanted to become a good person? A hero? How does she expect him and Ladybug to trust her if she keeps regressing whenever she feels like it?

“I’m not talking to you again until you apologise for hurting her.” Adrien was shocked to hear the declaration from the other him. Usually when he told Chloé off, he’d wait until a more private moment to try and avoid a scene. The look of pure fear and disbelief on Chloé’s face said she wasn’t expecting it either.

“Adrikins? You can’t be serious!” Chloé whined, stomping her foot. The other him remained silent and avoided looking at her to make a point. A desperate groan emitted from Chloé as she contemplated her options.

“Okay! Fine! Marinette, I’m sorry I shoved you.” Chloé exclaimed with her eyes shut tightly and her arms squeezed to her sides as if this were a Herculean task requiring all her will power. Adrien heard a movement behind him, and realised it was Mme Bustier getting out of her chair. She must have been waiting to see if they were able to resolve it on their own without her interference.

“Chloé, that was very brave of you for admitting you did something wrong and apologising. You’re certainly lucky to have a friend like Adrien who is willing to help you become a better person. Marinette, do you think you need to go to the infirmary?” Mme Bustier addressed the students with her usual loving voice.

“I can take her!” The other him loudly declared, as if it would be a race to offer. Hands wrapped around his wrists and pulled him up to his feet. It was fascinating looking at just how much his hands could wrap around Marinette’s tiny wrists. He felt so small in this body, and it was weird to see his other self as so imposingly large. Without letting go, the other him pulled him towards the door, guiding him out of the room. He was a little surprised when he was suddenly dragged into a supply closet, rather than the infirmary. Once the door slammed shut, the other him turned to face him with a strong look of remorse.

“I’m so sorry that happened Adrien. You shouldn’t have had to go through that.”

_Wait, what?_

/////

Marinette knew as soon as she heard the betrayed tone in the question out of her own mouth that the person in her body was Adrien. Nobody else would be so shocked and hurt by the way Chloé had acted, especially herself. As soon as she saw an opportunity to get him alone she took it. Ignoring how excited she wanted to get about how close she was to holding Adrien’s hand, she dragged him into the nearest supply closet and shut the door, before turning to look at him. A sensation of guilt washed over her at his confused expression. This must all be so weird for him and he has no idea what’s going on.

“I’m so sorry that happened Adrien. You shouldn’t have had to go through that.” She apologised, hoping he could hear how sincere she was. His eyes widened with surprise.

“H-how did you know it’s me?” He questioned, sounding bewildered. Marinette quirked an eyebrow at him.

“I’d never be shocked that Chloé had shoved me. In fact, I think you’re the only person who would be.” She replied dryly. Adrien squinted at her, as if making a complicated calculation in his mind, before he seemed to reach a conclusion.

“Marinette?!” She wasn’t sure if it was a question or if it was just disbelief. As she nodded, he groaned an slapped himself in the forehead.

“I feel so stupid! Of course we’ve just swapped bodies. Why did I assume it was more complicated than that? Stupid comic books.” He grumbled with embarrassment.

“Let me guess, Majestia? Don’t worry, I was thinking the same thing for a while. Well, I was originally right about us swapping bodies, but you were so convincing as me that you made me change my mind.” Marinette attempted to reassure him.

“You too! I must have been staring at you the whole lesson trying to see if you’d slip up and you never did. Your acting was so perfect. I didn’t know someone could play me so accurately that it could trick even me!” Adrien exclaimed. Marinette gulped awkwardly. Was there a sane, not creepy explanation for why she had memorised all his habits and mannerisms? Suddenly, the reality of the situation dawned on her. She was talking to Adrien…while in his body.

_Keep it together Marinette!_

 “R-really? Well do you? I mean, I do you well? No! Not like that, I meant- ugh, you know what I mean.” Marinette sputtered out, all her previous confidence having vanished. Adrien immediately burst into laughter.

“Wow, you were holding up well without any word vomit until now. How did you switch it off?” He teased, but his tone wasn’t malicious so it helped her relax.

“Turns out my fear of embarrassing you yields wildly different results to my fear of embarrassing myself.” Marinette revealed in a self-depreciating tone.

“I wish I could do as well as you. I've been a mess all morning.” Adrien complained, his smile dropping as he seemed to look back on his morning.

“It was an absolute nightmare! I feel like everybody was suspicious from the second I came downstairs for breakfast. When your mother joked about you being replaced because you woke up on time I nearly died right then. I was so worried about messing stuff up for you I became a babbling idiot. Like when I asked you if you showered? If it were anyone but you Marinette, I'd still be cringing right now.” He ranted dramatically.

_Anyone…but me? Is he saying he doesn’t care what I think of him?_

Marinette shook her head at the thought. Adrien would never mean something like that; he was too sweet, and he already explained that he was babbling because he was scared of messing things up for her. He must have meant that he feels safe with her, knowing she wouldn’t judge him for saying something weird. She couldn’t stop the smile that spread on her face as she was filled with a warm feeling of mutual trust.

“I wouldn't worry about it. I'm always such a disaster, so you probably could have done literally anything and everyone would brush it off as ‘classic Marinette' behaviour.” Marinette joked with a wink. He was really lucky that he had ended up in her body; his behaviour would have raised red flags if he had done it as literally anyone else. Adrien smiled back at her, his gaze lingering a little too long before he closed his eyes and shook his head.

“I haven't even asked how your morning was! Father is always getting Nathalie to scrutinise my behaviour so it must have been awful for you.” Adrien stated, sounding apologetic. Marinette shrugged.

“Actually, breakfast with him was fine.” She reassured casually. The expression Adrien was twisting her face into made her laugh, it was so comically bewildered.

“What?”

“Once I got past the awkward silence, he was alright to talk to. He showed me some new designs and didn't seem bothered by how I was acting. I even sensed a strongly-veiled fondness. Honestly it's so weird he doesn't show you any affection.” She explained. His disbelief made her wonder if he even usually sits with him for breakfast, let alone talks to him. Adrien wore a look of longing for a few moments, before it was replaced by a look of awe.

“Marinette, you are amazing. I don't know how you pulled that off.” He praised softly, looking up at her and making her eyes shimmer like sapphires.

“Maybe being in this upgraded model gave me boosted confidence.” She joked with a grin and a flex, trying to deflect the praise and to distract herself from how Adrien’s soul managed to make her look prettier than usual. She expected a laugh, so it was a bit surprising that his expression twisted in concern.

\\\\\\\\\

“W-what?” He stammered out. It was jarring enough talking to himself, but seeing his civilian self acting like he does when he is Chat Noir took it to a new level. Did Marinette know his secret identity. Had Plagg not been good enough at hiding? It did look like she went into his bag to scold Plagg during class. Marinette dropped her pose, seemingly confused by his shift of mood.

“I-it's a joke? Because you're a model?” She explained, tilting her head as she spoke, not sure if she was helping with what he was reacting to.

“Yeah, I got it. I just…you reminded me of someone. Chat Noir?” He added on the name at the end as if it were a question, hoping she would catch his drift if she was already in the know and wouldn’t think anything of it if she wasn’t. He froze as he watched her twist his expression into a very Chat Noir-like smirk.

“Adrien are you trying to ask if I'm secretly Chat Noir? I hate to disappoint you, but Chat Noir is not a small half-Chinese girl. Well, neither am I right now, but that’s beside the point.” She sassed, leaning in to his space. Once he realised she had just been joking around, and didn’t know his secret, he burst into laughter at her behaviour. Marinette can be so funny sometimes. Once his laughter died down, he sighed.

“This is going to sound really rude, but…while you’re me in front of other people can you go back to how you were acting before? Father – ”

“I get it, don’t worry. Your father has very rigid expectations for how you should act in public. Personally I think it’s dumb, but I won’t get you in trouble. I’ll be on my best model behaviour.” Adrien snorted at her second model-based joke of the conversation. Her grin dropped suddenly, looking like she forgot to turn the oven off.

“You have a shoot today! You’re meant to be going now!” Marinette cried out in distress, dropping her face into her hands. Adrien winced as he remembered being told about the shoot yesterday. It was a high fashion shoot with other models, which meant there was a lot of room for things to go wrong.

“Don’t worry, Marinette. I’ll go with you and give you tips along the way. I’ll make sure nothing goes wrong.” He offered, giving a comforting pat on the shoulder. Marinette peeked out from between her fingers at him and dropped her hands at the sight of his smile.

“Well, you did offer to bring me to one. Might as well cash it in now when we need it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Can the pair get through the photoshoot with nothing going wrong? I doubt the answer will surprise you
> 
> *Side note: Majestia is basically the in-universe Captain Marvel, so the issue Marinette and Adrien think of that makes them think that their conscious as been copied to another body is a reference to the multiple times this has happened one way or another in Marvel comics to Carol Danvers. At one point she was split into like four entities it was wild

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!
> 
> I love feedback, so any comments will be very appreciated!
> 
> If you ask a question and I don't respond, that's usually because your question will be answered in a later update, so bear with me please :)


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